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What initiatives and projects are you working on or accountable for?

• Peer-to-peer points-based recognition programs
• Worldwide benefits
• New company benefits
• Updating compensation plans
• Retirement, healthcare, and wellness
• Compensation incentives
• Technology design
• Employee assistance programs
• Employee recognition program overhauls
• Implementing PEP insurance for employees
• Refreshing compensation and benefits

Will these initiatives change in the next 6 to 12 months?

“No.” (majority)

“They’ll most likely be wrapped up in the next 6-12 months. New ones will surface and come to the table, including a big initiative with workforce planning,”

“There are a lot of things to iron out with our new recognition vendor in the next 6 to 12 months. That’s when we’ll look at a large expansion.” (AwardCo client)

“We’re on a timeline to complete both the Allied Health Comp refresh and the physician comp refresh within 12 months”

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Are there emerging initiatives you will likely be tasked with in the future?

“Yes/Maybe” (majority)

“Initiatives around cost controls, particularly for healthcare. With prescription drugs, and the proliferation of specialty drugs, and the cost of them, there will be pressure to bring down healthcare costs in the next few years.”

“The increasing digitization of everything”

“Transforming the skill sets of our employee base as we look at our emerging strategy post-pandemic.”

“We’ll continue to work on the hybrid model work environment, where we now have less office space, so some real estate initiatives.”  

“How we handle remote requests and remote wellness programs, so a lot of things that will pivot from a workplace environment.”

INSIGHT: HR leaders’ urgent need to simplify explains why Integrations are such a hot topic. A recognition provider who can meet this need (and explain it clearly and compellingly) will have a significant advantage.

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What are your key performance objectives?

• Workforce transformation
• Awareness and engagement of our programs
• Increase participation in recognition
• High level service delivery
• Client satisfaction/success

“Every person able to recognize peers would have done so at least once. Our goal is 80% participation by year’s end.”

“Make sure our business leaders understand and value our program.”

“Ensure our employees, when they engage with us, are satisfied with our team. So even if we can’t do what they want, they know they’ve been heard, and they understand the outcome.”

“We’re implementing a brand-new system, so delivery on that system.”

“Placement, promotion and retention are definitely in the performance metric”

What are your aspirations for personal success and growth? (overall)

“To have a big impact and drive successful change in our company.”

“My personal success would be that we achieve our participation goal for our recognition program.”  

“I’d love to have people managers become more self-sufficient when accessing data. Because right now, the reporting comes solely from me, and I’d love to have them access reports on their own.”

“Just to get that stuff done well.”

“Looking for a broader role within HR, more of a generalist role at a higher level, like an AVP role.”

“I aspire to a meaningful connection to the work I do.”

“I like to see folks that have potential now, in two or three years be placed in roles with more responsibility—as a personal goal.”

INSIGHT: HR SVPs and VPs are evaluated on the unforgiving metrics of employee engagement, recruitment and turnover. With so much at stake, they take these challenges personally.

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What are your aspirations for personal success and growth? (specific to employee recognition)

“Increase employee engagement and satisfaction in the company.”

“To land on a program that our employees could rave about, talk to their friends about, post on Instagram that they felt truly appreciated for something they did.”

“Take employee recognition out of the old way of thinking, where it was all about years of service, and create programs that reach the vast majority of our employees.”

“Provide remote staff (about 18% of our organization) with a meaningful way to replicate the in-person events we’ve held in the past.”

“Customize the recognition that employees get. So not just, ‘Here’s a selection of things that we’re going to use to recognize you,’ but maybe some things that are more personal.”

What challenges do you face in your role? (overall)

• Staffing/the right skill sets
• Programs that employees don’t understand
• Reporting challenges – “so much is still manual”
• Outdated human capital management systems
• Leadership transitions

“We’re not in the Cloud yet”

“Our PeopleSoft system is old and highly customized. Getting the data we need is challenging”

“With changes at the top, it takes time to get to know their different styles and aspirations and adjust accordingly.”

“Too much bureaucracy”

INSIGHT: We need to earn priority status and avoid implementation delays. We can do that through references and case studies that convey superior employee experiences and compelling business results.

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What challenges do you face in your role (specific to employee recognition)?

• Program awareness and usage
• Creativity/Innovation
• Lackluster gifts and awards
• Reporting and visibility

“It’s difficult to get employees to pay attention to the program.”

“Getting managers to understand the value of the program and want to use it.”

“We need to get smarter about how we recognize people and not lean on the traditional way of relating it to service anniversaries.”

“We’ve had some feedback where the products employees redeem their points for are just not great. They’re not excited by them.”

“The biggest hurdle is still reporting and how to better visualize usage. We don’t have a dashboard to quickly click in and see. If I were a manager and I had three levels of direct reports, how could I see how my team is doing? We don’t have that.”

INSIGHT: We need to reassure prospects at every stage that they are choosing the right solution. Consider using third-party endorsements throughout the buying process.

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In the next 6 to 12 months, will those challenges change?

“No” (majority)

“No. We’ll still be struggling with the system issues.”

“I hope so, I don’t see staffing being greatly improved, but I’m hoping.”

“Yeah, I think they will because we’ll settle post-pandemic. People will be much more comfortable navigating the new leadership styles, so I do think they’ll change.”

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What types of risks do you face in your role?

• Labor laws
• Timing on filing unemployment or workers comp notifications
• Not handling an employee matter fast enough
• Not documenting events properly
• Ensuring all programs comply with federal and state law.

“The risks involve the scope and scale of our decisions—they impact the individual lives we serve. A single change to people’s benefits could be wildly successful or wildly horrific.”

“How do we make good decisions for our people, knowing that we’re not going to completely win over all 65,000 employees?”

“Employee or company strategy, they may want something else or want us to move in another direction, that’s always complicated.”

“Everything from employee engagement internally to external reputational risk.”

“Being aware of what people are feeling—especially given what the world has gone through and is going through.”

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What types of risks do you face in your role specific to recognition?

• Data
• Usage
• ROI
• Inequality

“We have risks around data. We think somebody has 15 years of service, when in fact, they’re at 16-and-a-half years—we missed their 15th anniversary.”

“The data that we rely heavily on from our human capital systems. The programs don’t really do what they’re supposed to do.”

“That I pay for a program, and no one will use it.”

“That what we do today is not a motivator. Or a satisfier. That it’s not a good program to retain today’s young, highly mobile workforce.”

“The biggest risk is that a good intention becomes a negative interaction. If you don’t do recognition right, the risk of doing more harm than good can be exponential.”

“Unfairly recognizing one person over another when they may have had equal contribution.”

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What problems do you face that obstruct your operational and functional goals or objectives?

• Talent shortage
• Program adoption
• Retention

“Talent. The pool of candidates isn’t as robust as it has been.”

“It’s a shortage of talent that’s qualified to do the work we need.”

“The work talent here is tough. We are just trying to get the right people in and keep them.”

“Right now, it’s availability of workforce.”

“Just competing for my space. Getting employees to use or try new programs or any of our programs is always difficult.”

“We may recognize something or someone or a milestone and then just hope that it satisfies the need. We don’t go back and really understand whether it supported our culture or satisfied the person.”

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What problems do you face that obstruct your personal and performance goals?

• Balance
• Poor visibility
• Lack of time

“People are still working from home, so getting the word out and getting people up-skilled and knowing this is available is a challenge.”

“Balancing affordability with everything we’d like to do for our people”

“I don’t have the visibility I need to either move into a higher position or, in my case, take the time to decide what organizations I’d consider if I was to leave my current organization.”

“The pace and speed at which we’re called upon to do the work.”

“Adjusting to a new work style and making decisions much faster than we did in the past.”

“Time. Having enough to get everything done. We’re often putting out fires that come up and impede us from staying on track from goal that we have.”

INSIGHT: This is why deals stall or die. How can we make it easier for prospects to defend the decision, implement, and run?

What obstacles to your business goals does your organization face?

“Competing priorities. Everything’s important, everything’s urgent.”

“Really practicing the discipline of what we’re going to stop in order to start something better. We’re great about starting new things, but not eliminating anything.”

“We have a lot of local programs, and a lot of companies we inherited when we bought companies, so it’s a very decentralized little program, and that impedes progress.”

“As an organization we don’t make decisions and move as quickly as we should. So, I think there is a little bit of lag in our decision making and our moving to action.”

“All the ESG topics of trying to reduce and optimize impact on the environment and help society as much as we can.”

“It’s staffing.”

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How do you tie your purchase process to larger company goals or initiatives?

“We have a mission and goals that are cascaded throughout the organization. The procurement team is aware of them and can help support us when we want to enter a contract with a particular vendor.”

“It’s part of the rigor to move things forward. How does this align with our strategic objectives? What will it accomplish?”

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What strategic factors (e.g., business expansion, competencies, cultural fit) impact the purchase decision process?

• Strong cultural fit
• Strong brand
• Offering that employees love
• Long-term partner

“We look for organizations that really understand our organization”

“A strong cultural fit: they understand the type of employees we have.”

“Any vendor we work with has to have a stellar brand and be a stellar organization. Those are the most significant factors.”

“An innovative pull that gets employees very engaged.”

“We wanted a partner that would continue to be a market leader, invest in their products, and have a long-lasting relationship with us.”

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What financial factors (e.g., revenue growth, cost containment) impact your purchase decision process?

• Return on the investment
• Visibility into engagement and utilization
• Cost containment
• Cost of the tool
• Budget
• Financial viability (vendor is a solid company)
• Implementation fees

“We have a budget to manage within, and that may require some tough decisions.”

“Our former vendor had a huge markup on the tangible rewards. It was incredibly unfortunate that employees didn’t reap the benefits of their tenure at the firm.”

“If you’re looking at our previous vendor, whatever the catalog is, like a 40% mark up. Come on, your $100 is not $100 anymore.”

“We just wanted to make sure our turnover cost didn’t increase unnecessarily.”

“Cost is one thing. But what’s the benefit of the tool? The ROI analysis was important.”

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What operational factors (e.g., workflow efficiency, productivity) impact your purchase decision process?

• Great employee experience
• Simple/easy admin experience
• Intuitive reporting
• Meet tech requirements
• Simplify tax requirements

“How does it look and feel from the employee perspective? It must be seamless. It must be highly intuitive with a minimal number of clicks.”

“The employee experience—that’s where a lot of things could fall apart.”

“Minimize what frontline leaders need to do be successful in recognizing their people.”

“Make it easy for admins to extract data and do their own queries against the data base.”

“It’s the technical requirements we had. Can it integrate with our other IT systems? How would the account management run? How does the plumbing work?”

“The vendor we selected is really like a tech company in the sense that we could set up an API and see our head count information about employees.”

“Reporting to our payroll to ensure that employees are taxed appropriately. You shouldn’t be penalized for being recognized.”

What unique language or vocabulary (e.g., keywords, phrases) is commonly used in your job role or industry to describe needs, pain points, initiatives, and challenges?

“We use terms like world-class and best-in-class. It’s a highly professional approach because the vast majority of our employees are white collar and well-educated. It has to speak to them. The cultural fit is very important.”

“Workforce availability. We call it ‘staffing challenges’ versus ‘staffing shortages.’ There’s a huge distinction there for us.”

“In terms of how we represent decision, it’s really a shared decision. There are very few times we’d say, ‘leadership has decided.’ Usually, we come to a decision as an organization.”

“We’re intentional about how we describe our entire staff as owners of the mission and vision of the organization. So how we speak about that is important to us.”

“We don’t talk about supervisors and employees; we talk about our colleagues. We talk about our leaders and their colleagues, and how we accomplish things together.”

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How do you use internet searches to learn about market trends, vendors, or products (e.g., keywords about an industry problem or initiative, a specific product/technology category, or a particular vendor)?

“If I knew a vendor, I’d just Google that vendor. If I didn’t know a vendor, I’d look for ‘employee recognition programs.’”

“I prefer to talk to industry professionals to get information about solutions and services that have worked well for a company with the same mission, same employee size, same presence.”

What problems does your current recognition system solve?

• Retention
• Recognition
• Appreciation
• Engagement
• Connection to the company

“It ultimately increases the morale and performance of our employees.”

“We expect it to help us keep our best people longer.”

“We want our employees to know that when you go above and beyond, we see you, we recognize that, and we ultimately appreciate you for doing great work.”

“It needs to be our global platform that allows us to seamlessly recognize all of our employees in every way.”

“We needed a cohesive solution to replace all the one-off efforts around the world.”

What alternative solutions did you consider?

• Cash
• Better benefits
• Educating managers on recognition
• A few different things

“The platform itself is just one piece of the pie. There’s a lot more to everything we do around talent and culture and engagement. This is just the visible tool that everyone can use.”

What elements comprise your current recognition program?

• Peer recognition points that don’t expire
• Points redeemable for gifts
• Gift cards specific to country
• Amazon gift cards
• Years-of-service awards
• Gift choices connected to career milestones
• The gamut of monetary and non-monetary recognition
• global recognition awards from the CEO
• Analytics capabilities

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What problem is your current recognition system trying to solve? How well does it do that?

• Employee retention
• Employee appreciation
• Employee engagement
• Sense of connection (to the company and leaders)

Which elements of your current solution work well? Which don’t?

Works

• Selection of tangible rewards
• Program visibility and adoption
• Technology
• Analytics

Doesn’t work

• Selection in every country
• Nothing

What else do you wish your current solution could do?

“Allow for delegation. Not just checking out the reporting, but allowing others to recognize on your behalf, redeem on your behalf, do everything as you.”

“We don’t have needs for anything different than what we’re getting right now”

“Analytics—not so much for employees, but more for us behind the scenes to understand the ROI.”

Do you sponsor or champion the purchase of a product, service, or solution?

“Yes” (majority)

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Do you make the final decision for the purchase of a product, service, or solution?

“No, the final decision would belong to the Global Head of HR.”

“Yes, but I need the blessing of our EVP.”

“No, it’s a group recommendation upward, and then procurement and executive for comp, and then the CFO makes the final decision.”

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Do you use the purchased product, service, or solution on a day-to-day basis?

“Yes, all of us use the platform. Just like most of our employees use it.”

“No. My team does, but I don’t.”

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Do you handle procurement and negotiation, or manage the settling of terms, conditions, and pricing?

“Yes. We don’t always have to use the procurement office if it’s not a huge investment.”

“Part of that, but it’s not my responsibility. The Chief Procurement Officer and the Managing Director in Procurement would handle that mostly.”

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In what key stages of the purchasing process do you play an advisory role?

“Before we got to the finalists, we were considering about a dozen vendors. And at that point, I was more of an advisor, my team was determining which ones would make the cut.”

What is the purchase decision process at your organization (e.g., discovery, evaluation, commitment)?

“Here’s our process:

• Someone identifies a need
• We determine if it’s something we can make or need to buy
• If we’re buying it, we determine whether to use an existing or new vendor
• I go out and do a peer analysis to see what other companies are doing
• We do an RFP for the procurement department. First is an RFI just to see what’s out there. Then we narrow it down, do the RFP, and look at pricing proposals
• We do a deep analysis, test programs out, have people who aren’t on the committee demo them and see what they like and don’t like
• Finally, we choose a vendor, negotiate our contract, and launch it.”

“We had a platform, but it was only in certain places and hadn’t been reviewed for a while. So we:

• Contacted various companies who were leading the industry
• Spoke to various external peers about what they’ve been doing
• Decided to do a market review
• Sent an RFP to a dozen or more companies
• Followed the typical RFP process to create a shortlist
• The shortlist helped us focus our priorities
• Created a scorecard and conducted a few rounds of discussion
• Aligned on the final company

“People just weren’t happy with our recognition solution. So it was a matter of working with about 30 of our colleagues from various locations. Our existing provider’s clunky tech couldn’t get us where we wanted to be. Our new provider’s exclusive relationship with Amazon sold us.”

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Please rank your involvement in the discovery (early) phase of the buying process from 1 to 5.

Avg: 3.8

Range: 2-5

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Please rank your involvement in the evaluation (middle) phase of the buying process, 1 to 5.

Ave: 3.8

Range: 3-5

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Please rank your involvement in the commitment (final) phase of the buying process, 1 to 5.

Avg: 4.5

Range: 3-5

How do you evaluate vendors to choose one over another?

“Probably cultural fit with us, a strong brand, strong reputation, and obviously stellar reputation from everything we would find online.”

“We follow the RFI process. That’s what it’s for.”

“We have a good scorecard template.”

“Peer recommendations.”

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How important is post-purchase support in your decision? How do you evaluate a provider’s ability to provide ongoing support?

“Very important. Ultimately, we’re looking for a long-term partner.”

“It’s less about a sale and more about the relationship. They understand our problems, and they understand how their solution can solve them.”

“They’re transparent in ways that help us understand up front where we might have pain points.”

“We’ve chosen vendors that have been very transparent with us. We appreciated what they told us upfront, and we were able to mitigate it in a different way.”

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Is it important or helpful to understand the provider’s long-term plans for the offering? How would you want the provider to share that information with you?

“Yeah, it is. I understand that things can change, but we want to see that they have a vision for the product.”

“Some of what they share might be confidential, but I want to see our road map for three years, five years out. It’s critical to have that conversation.”

“We’ve had times where their plan to sunset was already known to them, but not to us. And then we end up in a forced transition 18 months after implementation.”

“We ask for their road map for the next four to five years to help us understand whether the company is still investing, or whether it’s a statement product. And it’s okay if it’s statement, but this helps us determine our path if we need a long-term solution.”

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How important is a provider’s reputation for corporate social responsibility in your decision process?

“It’s very important.”

“It’s becoming more and more important. Our employees have their own expectations, and they’ll do their own homework for us.”

“I think understanding that and really being deliberate as we’re selecting is important.”

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Do you consider the provider’s supply chain and distribution partners when making a purchase decision? If so, how?

“We ask questions about their supply chain. We want to understand what it is, and if they work with minorities or women, things like that. We also want to make sure their values are in line with ours.”

“We do, and it’s much more in terms of diversification of who they subcontract with, and do they share many of our values.”

“We’re interested in enabling Black- and women-owned businesses, so when we look at the supply chain in service delivery, we want to know their organization’s perspective. That’s important to us.”

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How do you justify your recommended vendor to move the purchase through the approval process?

“Usually, it’s both quantitative and qualitative, it’s basically a support with ‘Why this one?’”

“We try to keep it to three to five bullet points and then cost—‘What will it do to the budget?’”

“How and why was this one selected over the others? And then what’s the return on the investment?”

“By demonstrating the diligence in our due diligence. We have it formulated with the different gates we’ve gone through, so once we get close to a decision, it becomes more of a rubber stamp as long as we’ve done the homework and followed the steps.”

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Can you think of instances in which gaining approval for a purchase was more difficult than you expected? Why was it difficult? Is there something the vendor could have done to make it easier for you?

“Two years ago, we selected a benefits administration vendor. It took a few years to decide, and it just mushroomed because there were more and more stakeholders that got involved. We eventually prevailed, but it just took a lot longer.”

“I think the problem was internal. The vendor helped, stayed with us, and it was just a lot of stops and starts on our side, so I’m not sure the vendor had a role in it. It was really on us.”

“Yes. We failed to get leadership engaged about the problem we were trying to solve. The problem wasn’t well understood, so the solution didn’t meet what some of the leaders had expected. It was more on our side than the vendor’s.”

INSIGHT: Our sales professionals can clearly and persuasively explain why O.C. Tanner is the best partner without feeling pushy. Some of our biggest recent wins have required long periods of patience and helpfulness.

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How do you tie your purchase process to larger company goals or initiatives?

“There needs to be clear alignment with why you’re doing this. Can you do it in-house or do you need a vendor? It’s making sure there’s direct alignment with the organizational goals.”

“As part of our process, it has to align with overall strategies. It’s right on the template: ‘What key strategic priority does this support?’”

Do you strongly prefer (or dislike) particular products or providers?

“I don’t think there’s ones that I strongly dislike.”

“I like the ones that are more personalized, that speak to the multiple generations in the workforce.”

“I think it varies based upon individuals, and that’s why we have a team that looks at it.”

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Do you have strong feelings about how providers in this category have responded to your needs?

“No. I think when we were in the buying process, they were very responsive.”

“There was a lot of interest on the vendor’s side, wanting to move ahead. They wanted to move more quickly than we were able to.”

“I’d like to see much different high-touch packaging that delivers not just the product, but an experience.”

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Do you have any trust issues or frustrations with the buying process?

“Not really, no.”

“It’s more on our side, getting through different contractual pieces, than it is on the vendor side.”

“Technology can be a frustration in terms of our agreements for sharing data. Those can sometimes become problematic.”

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What category-specific sources do you rely on?

“You know, that’s a good question. We have a primary vendor right now, but I don’t think we rely on them as a source.”

“I think we rely on more of an active listening strategy with our leaders, but also comparison in the industry.”

“Consulting. We bounce our thinking with consultants, specifically Mercer, and they really keep an eye on this market space.”

In the discovery (early) phase of the purchase decision process, what type of content—or contact—informs or influences your thinking most?

• Focus groups
• Lunch-and-learns
• Casual internal conversations
• White papers with citations
• Case studies with value propositions
• Cost and ROI calculators
• Timely articles and publications

“Lots of reading and research”

“If I know what I’m specifically looking to solve, then I’ll go directly to a white paper.”

“Obviously, the existing vendor. And we’ve had calls and meetings with some potential vendors we’ve been in touch with for a while, if we bumped into them at conferences, or had a relationship with them.”

“I know it’s hard, the cold calls often go nowhere, but if a vendor builds a relationship, it may take years, but it helps in the long run.”

“We get a bunch of stuff in the mail, but that normally doesn’t help. It’s more getting a call or setting a meeting.”

INSIGHT: First impressions are critical and octanner.com needs to out-shine competitors—not only the design and UX, but the strategy, messaging, third-party endorsements, resources, and insights. Prospects should experience something compelling every time they interact with us.

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In the evaluation (middle) phase of the purchase decision process, what type of content—or contact—informs or influences your thinking most?

• Consultant conversations
• Consultant recommendations
• Consultant analyses
• Google search results
• Vendor websites
• Third-party vendor comparisons

“I just start Googling to see what pops up, and then go to different sites to see how they look, how robust they are, who their clients are.”

“Their website: I look at the leadership team and their LinkedIn profiles to get a sense of who they are, and what they’ve done.”

“It just becomes a research project where you keep looking. You find some words in one search that may take you into another one, and that’s certainly one way we evaluate before we get to the final RFP.”

INSIGHT: Influence Greatness is an excellent introduction to O.C. Tanner. We should continue leveraging it to set positive expectations for prospects.

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In the commitment (final) phase of the purchase decision process, what type of content—or contact—informs or influences your thinking most?

• Formal RFP
• Exploratory conversations
• Internal scorecard
• References—calling vendors’ clients

“At this point, it’s in-person conversations rather than content. Once we get to that, we’re looking to engage.”

“I want to interview all the finalists and get to know who our account team would be just to see if there’s good chemistry, and a similar mindset.”

“They need to demonstrate they really understand our population, our needs, and that they’re the best solution for us. So we meet with the finalists—myself and a number of people that I select.”

“Touching base with others that have done or have utilized this kind of program.”

Where do you start your search for information when considering a purchase (e.g., search engine, vendor website, industry website, industry peers)?

• Industry peers
• Industry leaders
• Google
• Vendor websites
• RFP process

“I start my search by talking with a lot of peers, and I ask what they use. Who do you think is the best out there? Who should I steer away from? Reaching out and seeing what their journey has been.”

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How do you compare similar products?

• Ease of use (majority)
• Flexibility/customization
• Vendor history
• Vendor stability

“Typically it’s done through an RFP process. It gets down to our conversations with the vendors, which allows us to compare and contrast.”

“Looking at the offering, what is it going to cost us to make it work with what we already have? Is it a total scrap of what we’re using? How easy will it be to make changes?”

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How do you prefer to receive or interact with vendors’ marketing and promotions (e.g., email, direct mail, high-impact mailers, phone call)?

“Probably email. But I’m awash in email. Unless it catches my eye, I don’t interact.”

“Email for sure. Email is absolutely preferable.”

“Email is probably the best to reach out, a non-intrusive intro vs. a phone call.”

“I prefer snail mail because I’m going to see it and I’m going to open it. With the amount of email that we get, I may unintentionally miss it. And I won’t pick up a phone call from somebody I don’t know.”

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What triggers a response to a marketing message (e.g., relevant to my job role, an initiative I’m working on, or a problem I’m facing)?

“I think some personalization. Did you take the time to find out my name and address me, or am I just somehow part of a bigger number you’re trying to hit?”

“Personalized items get my attention—ones that seem to have done some homework. They understand the business I’m in and what our needs might be.”

“Having at least a high-level understanding of the industry and personalizing it.”

“If they know somebody who knows me, they’ve made a connection through my LinkedIn profile or something like that. Mentioning that is always very helpful, too.”

“If someone says, ‘Look how such-and-such company used a recognition program and how it helped them.’ I need stuff like that.”

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Do you prefer to meet with a vendor’s salesperson or sales team by phone, video conference, or in person?

“Yeah. Phone’s fine.”

“Phone or Zoom is fine.”

“Video conference is good. Certainly, we could do in-person, too. But phone and email, no. Meeting in person or video conference is best.”

“Early discussion can be via video. And as we get into a more substantial, contractual relationship, in-person.”

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What prompts you to take a meeting with a vendor sales rep (e.g., recommendation by a direct report, boss’s suggestion, significant financial investment, or high risk)?

• Timing
• Relevancy
• Trusted connection

“Mostly, the timing just has to be right.”

“If we don’t have the need immediately or within the next six months, it may get lost. Doesn’t mean we didn’t like them. Just means the timing wasn’t right.”

“It has to be relevant to an area I need to address, or a challenge we’re trying to solve.”

“If we’re interested in the topic and they look like they’re an interesting company to talk to.”

“A connection to somebody who would recommend me connecting with that person.”

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What does a salesperson do to win your trust (e.g., demonstrate expertise in my industry or company, show me they care about my success, cultivate a personal relationship with me)?

• Honesty
• Directness
• Clarity
• Brevity

“Don’t beat around the bush. Be extremely upfront, manage expectations clearly. Don’t say you can do everything we ask for. It’s about being honest about limitations.”

“They listen to me. When I tell them to stop calling, they stop calling.”

“Just get to the nuts and bolts and to the point versus a lot of the fluffy stuff.”

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Besides the sales rep, which other vendor representatives (e.g., product manager, solutions specialist, executive) do you meet with during the purchase decision process?

• R&D team
• Client team
• Product manager
• Implementation manager/team
• CEO

“I like to talk to the R&D team to see what else is in the pipeline, because what a program looks like today is not how it’s going to look tomorrow.”

“I want to see and talk to their client team, to see how they treat clients and how they manage business.”

“Absolutely the product manager, also the implementation manager. If it’s a six-month implementation, I want to meet with the implementation team—just to be sure they’re as committed as we are.”

“The domain experts within the product. That’s super helpful, the people that are closest to it, who can actually describe and speak to how it works. I think there’s a ton of value in that.”

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What type of group interactions (e.g., webinars, seminars, conferences) do you find impactful during the purchase process?

“I would say webinars would be most impactful.”

“A webinar is definitely impactful when we’re in the middle of a decision.”

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What third-party influencers (e.g., industry analysts, consultants) do you interact with during the purchase decision process? Which ones are most impactful?

• Benefits consultants
• Vendor clients
• Friends
• Peer organizations

“I’ll read the reports, and we use a consultant, but that’s about it.”

“Current clients of the organization. That’s the most heavily weighted input we get. They tell us about the good, the bad, the unexpected and how that partnership works.”

“Mainly peer organizations, just to do our own due diligence on companies they’ve worked with or are about to work with, or maybe even stopped working with.”

What professional associations do you belong to? Do you listen to or follow any industry peers, authors, bloggers, or analysts to support your purchasing process, and would you recommend any to colleagues?

• SHRM
• WorldatWork
• Willis Towers Watson
• CHRO Roundtable
• Becker (daily newsletter)
• The Conference Board

“The ones that are more helpful are the peer networking groups that I’m part of.”

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What conferences or events do you attend and why?

• SHRM regional and national
• Willis Towers Watson (virtual)
• Conference Board

“I’m pretty selective about what conferences I attend. I need to make sure the agenda speaks to me and that there will be really strong people who know a lot more about a subject than I do.”

“I don’t attend many. Most things I attend are benefits-related, and I don’t attend anything that has to do with recognition.”

“I’m not a huge fan of massive conferences. Many times, I’d go just because I was speaking at it. I don’t see a ton of value because they’ve become so marketing heavy.”

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Do you go to vendor websites and, if so, why?

“Definitely. It’s helpful to see what they’re highlighting, and what they’re most proud of. It’s very important.”

“Yeah, I look at how they showcase their brand. I want to see the language they use to position themselves.”

“I go to vendor websites to get any downloadable case studies, or if I hear about a vendor and they’ve never reached out to me, which is rare.”

“No, very rarely.”

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Do you participate in or belong to any online communities or forums (e.g., LinkedIn groups)?

“Yes, LinkedIn.” (majority)

“No. Electronically, I’m so overwhelmed with information. I might go to our Willis Towers Watson microsite, where people can pose questions.”

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In which social networks are you active for business purposes (e.g., LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest)?

“LinkedIn.” (majority)

“‘I’m on LinkedIn. Facebook and Instagram are the other social networks we belong to.”  

“I have a LinkedIn profile only because our organization has asked us to. I’m not active on it.”

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How do you use social media when making your purchase decisions?

“Vendors sometimes initially make contact through LinkedIn.”

“We look up the business leaders tied to the product or vendor on LinkedIn. To get a sense of their background, where they went to college, where they’ve worked previously, and see if we have any mutual connections. It gives us a sense of who these people are.”

“When we’ve narrowed it down to two or three finalists, I’ll look at Glassdoor to see what employees say about those companies. If they’re very negative, I might reconsider.”

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Which trade journals or publications do you read?

• Wall St Journal (majority)
• New York Times
• SHRM HR magazine
• WorldatWork
• Crain online newsletters
• Various industry magazines
• Various benefits newsletters

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Do you consider channel partners (e.g., resellers, systems integrators, distributors) useful resources for gathering information, advice, or recommendations? If so, how do you use them when considering a purchase?

“No” (majority)

“We have not considered that but that’s an interesting proposition.”

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What sources do you trust?

“I trust testimonials, because you can follow up with them. You can also use Google to get opinions from unbiased sources and sense whether it’s a good fit or not.”

“Professionals I’ve known for a long time who have a strong reputation. I trust their opinions.”

“I trust the rigor of our own process. We have different gates that we’ve defined and gone through and allow us to arrive at good decisions.”

“Looking through the lenses of our legal partners and our supply chain partners. Even our brand management partners to see if a potential partner aligns with our values.”